Brian Live in Norway - the whole show online

[SurfRiderHawaii]

Caught this link from the blueboard:

http://www1.nrk.no/nett-tv/klipp/262753

Brian's voice is way out front in the mix.  Generally, painful to listen to (I'm sorry to say), though the band is great.

[pixletwin]

Excellent catch! Thanks for posting that.

It is weird not seeing Darian up there. 

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Ummm....can someone please either translate or at least tell me wtf to do to get this thing to work?

I need to install something but it's in friggin Norwegian.

:/

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

For å se video i NRK Nett-TV må du har en båndbredde på minst 300 kbit/s.

...

[Jonas]

It says "People named Billy Castillo are not allowed to use this technology."

sorry bro :/

[SurfRiderHawaii]

Worked automatically on my Mac.  In the left box, try clicking the video file icon to the right  "Briian Wilson"  (there are actucallyt wo Brian Wilson files posted (botht he same file).  They have made available all the artists from the Norweigen Wood festival.

[endofposts]

The first thing that pops up is a test of your connection speed (yes, I can read Norwegian --  not, but it's close enough to English with words like "testen).  You then go to the show page.  It did nothing for me at first, no matter how many clicks on the icons.  I pressed the back button to get back to the speed test page, let it retest, then when it went back to the video page, the video screen magically appeared.  It doesn't sound good, but Brian isn't the only problem.  The backing vocals have a lot of flatting, or at least it sounds like that on the mix.  The instruments don't come through well, and what it heard doesn't sound too good.  I'm not sure if it's an off night or the mix, or both.  But it doesn't argue well for those who think Brian should keep touring every single darn year.  The band sounds tired, too.  Plus, they really need to add new things to the set.   They probably should have dropped "Kissed Her" without Al being there. 

Maybe I'm being too critical? It is a free 'net show, after all.  It's nice that it's available.

[SurfRiderHawaii]

The sound came thru crystal clear thru my Quicktime stream.  Brian is way out front in the mix and you can clearly hear all his lead vocals.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Got it to work. Here're my thoughts on what I've heard so far..

Catch a Wave
Not THAT bad at first. God, Billy Hinsche looks old . Brian sounds slurry, but not too bad .
Dance Dance Dance
Brian's gestures are annoying at the beginning, and really f*cks up the lyrics. His voice actually sounds strong, but weak too at the same time, if that makes any sense.
Then I Kissed Her
Nice that Brian is holding the notes instead of clipping them like he does a lot. He goes flat a bit, but sounds pretty good...except for the end. As for the end... "It's nice to have you come"...makes me for some dirty reason.
Break Away
Don't like the opening. Brian really strains, and Jeff sounds off.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Hawaii
Nowhere near as good as when I saw Brian on 10/23/04. Bad sound mix, as Brian's backups are too loud in the mix. The noise reduction is starting to get annoying, btw.
In My Room
I hate the harmonica part. I do notice that in some parts, Brian is singing like he did in 1976, esp. the way he over-pronounces certain things. His voice sounds shot, but his actual singing sounds pretty good.
Surfer Girl
Opening part Brian is way off. Weird pronounciation of "I" on "I have watched you...". The middle part sounds pretty good, better than Knebworth 1980.

Sidenote...It's getting annoying when he thanks the crowd after every song. Also, the Row Row Row your Boat thing has outlived its usefulness.
Wendy
Sounds way off. Brian's bgvs are all over the place. This is making me sad. Hurts so bad, indeed.  I do like the parts where he kinda shouts...he sounds better on the rockers than the ballads.

When I Grow Up Brian sounds really good until right before the second verse. Again, his backups are really bad. Ouch. It IS kinda sad. I've heard Brian lots of times, once live in person, the other times from various clips like this, and I've never heard him this bad, apart from the 1999 (?) show at the Beacon that showed up at various places.

Do You Wanna Dance Flat.

Drive in
MUCH better. Proves my point about Brian sounding better on the rockers. His intro is funny, and he looks involved. He's having real fun, and he's feelin' it .


I Get Around
Back in 15 Big Ones form for this, and it  works. Think the last song energized him...

Sloop John B
Pretty good. He again sounds like he did on the Knebworth dvd, only with feeling. I like the growl. At this point  I'm noticing that the show has picked up a lot. Interestingly, he sounds like he's playing with the melody on his leads, but in a good way.

Wouldn't it be Nice Sounds flat at the beginning, but it also sounds like the band started off in the wrong key. I like the way he goes low on "...whole night through".  The middle part is off key, though. Whoa...I see a sheet of paper on his keyboard. Is he reading from a sheet of paper, as opposed to a Tele-Prompter?!

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Sidenote: Jeff Foskett looks bigger.

God Only Knows Brian's really trying here, but his voice sounds shot. The last half of the song sounds much better than the first. I think its time to retire this song from the playlist. What was up with Foskett's facial expression at the end?! He looked sick.

Add Some Music
Much better, as he's back to his vocal stylings from before the last two songs. The middle part to me is the best he's sounded on the entire show.
Heroes& Villains Don't like the sax part at the opening. It's obvious that that IS a sheet of paper he's reading from, as he uses the intro he always uses for Add Some Music for this one. That he said, he sounds good.

 Do It Again
Jeff sounds like he was throwing Brian off.  I really like the a capella bit...

California Girls
Brian played the opening on piano before the song actually began. Sounded kinda cool. He royally fodas up the lyrics in parts, but doesn't sound bad.  Love the acapella bit. I also noticed it was for Brian to be able to hear his keyboard, as he appeared to be changing the settings for it...

Marcella Hell yeah. Now I know why Brian was changing the sound... great guitar sound, too. I love Brian's versions of this. Wish he really WOULD do that "rock album" he's been talking about for the past decade...

I'll finish watching this later...

edit

Skimmed towards the end. Brian forgot the lyrics to Love & Mercy, but I like how he improvised. "A lot of people getting shot..." that was classic.

[Pretty Funky]

Compare the PS songs on this show with the London versions from 02. Sad so sad to listen to.
Will be true to my word that I see no reason to go to another Brian Wilson concert. Sorry to have to say it but I dread the thought of what may happen in September in London.

Still like his band. Would be great to hear Mike and Al or other's doing those leads with them instead.

[Sheriff John Stone]

I just started watching this....Is Brian high?

[Pretty Funky]

Well it seems to me that his singing has just got lazy. Through age, lack of effort or a now inability to hit those high notes he did just a few years ago. Even then not too well. The teleprompter is gone but at a cost of concentrating so hard on the lyrics the vocal is very poor.

Looks like a bad karaoke singer has wandered on to the stage from the audience and nobody has the heart to return him to his seat.

[Sheriff John Stone]

I'm halfway through....Bring back the teleprompters....Jeff Foskett is the star....While he sounds nothing like the Brian Wilson of 40 years ago, he is ACTING like him. And that's a good thing....And thanks for coming tonight ladies and gentlemen....

[Jim McShane]

Brian - pretty awful... there were a few exceptions, but I've never heard him sound that bad.

And the band sorely misses Scott and Darian. That's a lot of musical horsepower to do without. Billy ain't no Scott, and Gary ain't no Darian.

[SurfRiderHawaii]

Brian needs Al badly!!!!  Have Al sing most of the leads and all will be well!!!!

[Sheriff John Stone]

I'm three-fourths of the way through....This is the most lucid I have ever seen Brian....He is acting much younger than age 65; forget about that fainting spell stuff....They should take that arrangement of "Marcella", go into the studio, clean up Brian's vocal, and release it as a single. It rocks like a young alternative boy band....And thanks for coming out tonight ladies and gentlemen....

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

This is the most lucid I have ever seen Brian....He is acting much younger than age 65; forget about that fainting spell stuff....They should take that arrangement of "Marcella", go into the studio, clean up Brian's vocal, and release it as a single.

Agreed. Too bad the first half of the concert was so weak.

And thanks for coming out tonight ladies and gentlemen....

I got tired of him saying that after every song...

[Sheriff John Stone]

Ok, it's over....It appears that Brian has abandoned the stiffness of trying to hit the notes and reading off of the teleprompters and is now singing the way he "feels". I don't know if that is good or bad, but it's different from past concerts. Brian's actually phrasing like a real singer. I DON'T like it when he shouts/speaks the words instead of singing them though....That's the most I ever heard Brian recognize the other band members....Brian seemed to be INTO the music, in charge, actually wanting to perform the songs, if a little rushed....I should know this and I'm embarrassed that I don't, but who is the guy on keyboards with short red hair who looks like a fifty year-old Matt Jardine?....Why is Billy Hinsche in this band....

OK, this is what bothers me. It's nothing new but this concert really brings it out. Do you realize that with the exception of a couple of songs ("Wouldn't It Be Nice", "Sloop", "Surfer Girl", maybe one or two others), Brian sings all of the other Beach Boys' parts - except his own. Jeff handles that. Brian rarely sings his own original part. And that is and has been very unfulfilling. Because that's what I/we identify with him. And he doesn't sing the other guy's (Mike, Carl, Al's) parts as good as they did. I don't know, it just sounds weird, or like somebody earlier posted, like karaoke. Yes, I'm taking this opportunity to AGAIN say - please, please call Mike, Al, Bruce, and David and perform these classics the way they're supposed to be played and sung. And thanks for coming out tonight ladies and gentlemen....

[MBE]

Anyway to download this?

[Don't Back Down]

I like the fact that you can hear the keys better in this mix (not Brian's intros mind you, but the keys in Marcella, Good Vibrations, etc). Marcella is SUCH a killer song live, I agree with the above posts that Brian should release it as a single

[endofposts]

I finally watched the last few minutes of the show, which I didn't have a chance to do earlier.  Brian massacred "Love and Mercy," rushing the phrasing, making it completely out of kilter.  Jeff doubled him on the last chorus in a seeming attempt to maintain the correct pace.  I'm not even mentioning the made-up lyrics.   Even the band looked a little concerned.   He was not at all like this when I saw his show this past January.  Maybe the jet lag had set in.  But this was an unfortunate show to wind up on the Internet, because apart from "Marcella," it's overall not too good.  It can't all be blamed on the sound mix.  I'm glad the report from Amsterdam is better.  Maybe Bri and the band had to find their sea legs, so to speak.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Don't try to tell anybody on the Blue Board that, as they are apparently loving it on there...

Oh, and thanks for coming tonight!

[Count Takeshi]

I didn't think it was that bad. Brian seemed really into it and having his vocals so high up in the mix obviously wasn't a good thing, especially when he sang what should have been background vocals, but overall I enjoyed it.
Performing at a festival is never going to be the place to Brian at his best, possibly because of sound set up, open air setting etc. Didn't we have pretty much this reaction after Live 8?